TaylorMade Rescue Mid

Details on the sole plate.

Price: £139 (graphite), £119 (steel)

When it comes to blinding the golfer with science and gobbledegook, TaylorMade is up there with NASA and local government boffins.

For example: "The double-crown, visible as two lines on crown, enhances the structural integrity of the clubhead, minimizing head-distortion at impact so that maximum energy is transmitted to the ball."

What’s all that about?

In fact, it was part of the press release issued with their Rescue Mid club launched at the end of 2002 and which I’ve been putting through its paces in between heavy showers, frost and flooded course closures.

While I admit golf club construction is a very technical process, involving different kinds of metal fitted to numerous shafts and flexes, I’m inclined to want to simplify wordy documents into plain English and in my review, ‘tell it how I found it.’

Long-irons are indeed the hardest clubs in the bag to hit well, which is why TM's engineers created the original bronze-headed Rescue club and as part of their strategy to give a constant facelift to their equipment, developed the Rescue Mid.

Two-tone head style.

It’s designed to be ‘easy-to-hit while delivering high launch angle and high spin and long-iron distance’. From a low tee my test version, apparently equivalent to a 2-iron with a 16-degree loft, delivered a penetrating flight between 170-180 yards. Fine.

Off turf, however, I couldn’t make it do what it claimed ‘on the tin’ and instead it consistently produced the ‘low, hard-to-stop trajectory of the average long iron’ which it is allegedly designed to avoid. However, at least it didn’t produce the sting in the fingers.

The Rescue Mid is available in a series of four, from 2-iron to 5-iron, for the respective long-irons they are intended to replace. The makers also say it produces, on average seven extra yards, per club compared to its iron equivalent. As I can't hit a 2-iron anyway, with any consistency, I'll just have to take their word for it.

In looks, the Rescue Mid reminded me of the head of the black and metallic grey of a Never Compromise putter and certainly like most putters it had a soft feel through impact, even off the toe.

Given a tee peg or a flying lie in the semi-rough, the Rescue Mid will get the ball airborne with a penetrating flight, but from a tight lie or rough it was more top than trajectory. The makers claim it’s a club you’ll fall in love with, well sorry, I didn’t even fancy it enough to ask it out again!