TaylorMade Burner TP Review

Every year begins with the thoughts of shooting lower scores, hitting the ball longer and making a lot of birdies. It is also the time when we think about all the new goodies out there to "help" us achieve these goals. This year, with the help of golfers like you, my students and touring professionals I will be reviewing and testing a lot of golf products and posting thoughts on this blog.

During the past couple of weeks I have tested the two new drivers from TaylorMade, the r7 SuperQuad TP and the Burner TP. I am going to focus on the Burner TP this week. Two different shafts were tested on the same head. The stock Re Ax 65 Superfast Graphite Design X flex 45.5 inches long and an Accuflex Creation 65 X flex 45 inches long. The head was 9.5. Face angle was not measured but does look on the .5* - 1* open side. Golf ball used for testing TaylorMade TP Black. Tests were done without launch monitor data and were based on ball flight and aesthetics (sound and look).


The look of the head is a little different than TaylorMade drivers of the past. As you can see in the picture there are graphics on the top of the head. The graphics work as a great alignment aid and are they do not stand out as the coloring is a light gray. Some traditionalists may not like the appearance but in my opinion it's a positive. Anything to help with alignment is a great addition, plus your eyes should not be focused on the head of the club at address anyways. The head shape fits my eye as it is on the traditional side even at its 460 CC size. The headcover is a sock style and not the usual magnetic TP headcover.

As you know sound and feel are very closely related. If a club does not sound good to you it most likely will not feel good and visa versa. It is hard to describe sound in writing but this driver just plain sounds and feels powerful. The golf ball feels like it explodes off the clubface. That powerful feeling turns into confidence very quickly.


Ball flight comes from a few factors most of which are based on the golfers swing characteristics. Please take these ball flight characteristics with a grain of salt as they are based on two shafts and MY swing so results will vary from golfer to golfer. My typical or average ball flight is on the medium to high side with a slight draw. Temperature (50* and wind conditions (calm) were constant for both tests. The first test was done with the stock Superfast Graphite Design shaft. You have to remember that the shaft is a half in longer than standard which will add club head speed. The stock shaft felt very true to flex (x) as some stock shafts play weaker. (again this is a TP and the stock shafts are of the premium variety) My ball flight was a little higher than average. Spin rate seemed to be pretty close to optimal as the ball did not balloon or drop out of the sky at all. I hit a few on the toe and the heel of the club to test the MOI and did not see much loss of distance as well as control. I then tried to work the ball left to right and right to left and found it to be controllable but on the other hand it was not easy to hit a big cut or a big draw. (this is possibly due to the very high MOI technology of the design) So if you want a driver that reduces your "big misses" this could be the one for you. Distance was based on comparing it to my "old" TaylorMade 425 r7 TP. It was definitely a little longer than the 425 r7 TP (could be due to the longer shaft) but it was really more forgiving on mishits.

The test done with the Accuflex Creation produced a better ball flight for me as it was more of a medium to high flight. The spin rate seemed to be pretty close to the Superfast Graphite Design as the ball did not balloon or drop to early. The mis hits were consistent with the stock shaft as was the ability to move the ball. I found the biggest difference to be the distance. Because of the better ball flight it seemed to be a little longer overall. (turf conditions were the same during both tests.

These opinions are strictly my own. As I stated before you may have different results as there are many factors that influence ball flight characteristics. I do believe that most people would not be disappointed with the stock shaft. This driver will certainly find time in my bag this year. The driver retails for $399. For more information check out the TaylorMade website. Check back weekly for more news, instruction and reviews.

T.J.