Cost: $1,099.

Tested by: Callum Hill, Golf Australia magazine Digital Editor.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: For a long time, I have trusted TaylorMade’s drivers at the top of my bag. The M4 and M5 were personal favourites of mine.

Reading and watching the reviews of the new Qi35, its consistency impressed me the most; a department I believe TaylorMade has developed out of sight over the last decade.

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on one, put it into action and see if all the raving reviews were genuine.

It isn’t a necessity, but a golf club which looks good is always nice. The sleek black Qi35 was a classy-looking stick, one of the better-looking clubs currently on the market. It’s built for players chasing distance but not willing to give up forgiveness. The centre of gravity’s been dropped, the MOI’s up, all pointing to higher launches and straighter ball flights, even when the strike’s not perfect.

There’s tech everywhere. Interchangeable weights and adjustable CG all give you more say in shot shape and flight. The Carbon Twist Face returns, now wrapped in advanced materials like chromium carbon fibre. It looks and feels premium. It’s not just about power, either. TaylorMade claims dispersion is 13 per cent tighter than the last model. If true, that’s meaningful.

The Qi35 is a modern driver that doesn’t just go long – it works harder to keep you in play. Fast, forgiving and fine-tuned for the golfer who wants options.

HOW IT PERFORMED

The Qi35 was a breakthrough for me, mainly because it’s helped tame something I’ve battled for a while: that low, left miss which sneaks in under pressure. With this in the bag, it’s just ... not showing up.

Flight-wise, it’s a beauty. Penetrating, clean, with just the right amount of shape. No ballooning, no knuckling. Just a strong, confident window. The forgiveness is real, too – even the toe strikes this writer is accustomed to stays in play.

It’s not just the tech doing the heavy lifting. It’s how the whole thing works together. The weighting, the face, the feel off the tee. For players fighting their flight, especially those prone to the hooks, this could be the fix. For me, it’s already earned its spot.

I decided to bring in the big guns for a hit – former professional and Colligate player-turned-Golf Australia magazine Brand Manager Stuart Liversage – to see what he thought when he put it against the Qi10.

He says: “When analysing my Qi10 range results with TaylorMade’s top fitting person BenG, who slightly adjusts loft and lie to get my best results, after roughly five balls it created an average ball speed off the face of 139mph. Admittingly, I really wasn’t hitting the ball that great on the day due to a lack of warm up.

“We switched drivers to the Qi35, made a couple of tweaks and instantly my ball speed went up to a 142mph average (five balls). It was then time for other people to test the club, with one gentleman easily soaring it over the back fence with a 300-plus-metre carry.

“As suggested, I was a little disappointed with my results on the day, so after we received the Qi35 for individual testing last week to the specs which were suggested,

I took the liberty of taking the drivers out for round-two testing on the weekend.

“After warming up correctly, here are the results;

- 10 balls; Qi10 had an average ball speed off the face of 144mph.

- 10 balls; Qi35 had an average ball speed off the face of 149mph with a top of 151mph, which is the first time I have cracked that mark in a long while.

“One of the better ones I’ve tried.”

TAYLORMADE SAYS: The Qi35 driver takes performance up a notch by lowering the CG (centre of gravity) projection and maximising MOI (moment of inertia), delivering greater distance across more of the face.

Centre of gravity projection refers to the head’s balance point projected onto the face, influencing how the ball launches. Shots hit above this point launch higher with less spin, while shots below it generate more spin and lower launch, reducing distance.

TaylorMade engineers shifted the CG lower and optimised head weighting to create a larger high-performance area on the face, resulting in better launch conditions and more distance across the Qi35 range.

With interchangeable Trajectory Adjustment System (TAS) weights, players can fine-tune CG projection in the Qi35 and Qi35 LS models for more efficient shot shaping and control.

Using chromium carbon fibre alongside the 4th-gen Carbon Twist Face and Infinity Carbon Crown, excess weight was redistributed to the rear, boosting MOI. This delivers greater forgiveness – Qi35 offers 13 per cent tighter dispersion than Qi10 with the 13g weight in the back. Qi35 Max maintains top-tier forgiveness with 10K MOI.

Qi35 drivers combine these new advances with TaylorMade staples like Carbon Twist Face, Thru-Slot Speed Pocket and a four-degree loft sleeve, offering a premium package of design and performance.

The multi-material build – including chromium carbon fibre, steel, aluminium, tungsten and titanium – brings cutting-edge tech and elite craftsmanship together for powerful results.

For more visit TaylorMade.com.au.