Burner SuperLaunch
While I'm delighted that TaylorMade has produced a club based on the feedback they get from the minority of golfers who swing more slowly and deliberately, I was slightly disappointed that it didn't fulfill all my dreams of at last being able to hit towering iron shots that drop out of the sky to land by the flagstick. I'm grateful for the opportunity but the search continues!
One of TaylorMade's most recent successes is its Burner iron, engineered to appeal to a wide range of players from the accomplished ball-striking mid-handicapper to the single-figure golfer determined to have the latest technology at their fingertips.
But even TaylorMade admits the Burner is not for everyone - especially those slower swingers like me and again, like me, players who produce a naturally low ball flight.
I tried and failed to launch the Burner high enough and long enough to enjoy the full benefits of the club. I needed something even easier to hit with ideally some generous offset to help straighten the inevitable block to the right and to get the distance I felt my compact golf swing deserved.
Reading the Burner SuperLaunch iron specification material, I felt this new 'high trajectory' set of irons had my name on it.
TaylorMade sent me three to sample - the 5-iron, 7-iron and pitching wedge - and immediately the feeling of confidence washed over me - a two-tone top-line as thick as a Mars bar and a sole that's as wide as a hybrid's. A combination, surely guaranteed to get any ball airborne.
There's no doubt this is the most forgiving iron TaylorMade has created - at least since my beloved old rac OS irons - that makes it a great iron for mid-handicappers with patterns of inconsistent ball-striking.
The 5-iron had a low profile shape, not dissimilar to a hybrid which made it the easiest of the three I tested to launch and control distance. The 7-iron, with its medium profile, while it launched higher was less easy to hit a favoured 140-150 yards with consistency and the wedge didn't give me the confidence to hit it full out with assurance that the ball would bite and stop.
However, around the green the thick top line and the wide sole of the pitching wedge made it easy to control the ball with delicate precision knowing the leading edge wasn't going to dig in to the soft conditions we've been experiencing lately.
Verdict
While I'm delighted that TaylorMade has produced a club based on the feedback they get from the minority of golfers who swing more slowly and deliberately, I was slightly disappointed that it didn't fulfill all my dreams of at last being able to hit towering iron shots that drop out of the sky to land by the flagstick. I'm grateful for the opportunity but the search continues!
