TAYLORMADE R7 DRAW DRIVER
REVIEWED BY: BRIAN YATES
Handicap: 3

MODEL & SHAFT PLAYED:
TaylorMade r7 Draw driver with 10.5° loft and fitted with a RE*AX 55 regular shaft.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Big! That’s the first impression I had when removing the head cover of the r7 Draw driver. I own a driver with a 460cc clubhead, so I assumed this driver would look similar in terms of size, but it looks significantly larger. The scoop out of the back portion of the head produces a dramatic shape.

The soleplate of the r7 Draw head is a lot less cluttered compared to the other r7 drivers from TaylorMade and the look of the club at address was very clean.

VERDICT: Although I can produce a draw with my current driver, I was very impressed with the trajectory I was able to achieve with the r7 Draw. The ball flight was noticeably higher than what my current driver offers. This led to my drives carrying further.

I wasn’t able to create a dramatic hook shot with this driver and I also found it difficult to fade the ball. If I put what I thought was a fade swing on the ball, it invariably went dead straight.

The club seemed closed at address and I’m sure this helped contribute to the draw shape, but thankfully the
head was not offset, which I find to be slightly off putting in a driver.

While it is definitely not easy to produce a fade with the r7 Draw, I think that most of the time, the desired shape off the tee for most players is a draw or a dead straight shot and the r7 Draw performs these two tasks extremely well.

The sound at impact was very subdued, similar to the sound created by some of the latest graphite composite drivers.

PLAYER RATING
Appearance: BIG! 9/10
Playability: Predictable 9/10
Balance: Light but controllable 9/10
Feel: Subdued sound 8/10
Total 87.50%

From the November 2006 issue of Golf Australia magazine