TaylorMade R9 fairway wood

Golf Monthly associate editor Jezz Ellwood gives us his thoughts on TaylorMade's new R9 fairway wood.

TaylorMade R9 fairway wood
Jeremy Ellwood
By
published

Is my lifelong search for the perfect 3-wood finally over following the arrival of TaylorMade's R9 this season? Maybe, maybe not, but for the time being it's the best, most confidence-inspiring 'spoon' I've ever had the good fortune to possess. And this despite it being passed to me by deputy editor, Neil Tappin, with a slightly dismissive, "Do you want to try this? You'll probably find the head too small, but you might as well give it a go."

Too small? I don't think so, and as someone who prefers to look down on something erring on the compact rather than the oversize at address from long range, a quick glance suggested it fitted my eye perfectly.

Several months ago now it debuted in the Ellwood bag, and that is precisely where it remains to this day following some of the most solid, consistent and reasonably long 3-wood shots of my life. Further proof that when it comes to golf clubs, one man's meat is indeed another's poison. For now, I will continue to feast on the extra dimension the TaylorMade R9 3-wood has brought to my occasionally suspect long approach play.

Where next?

TaylorMade R9 460 driver blog

Jeremy Ellwood
Jeremy Ellwood
Contributing Editor

Jeremy Ellwood has worked in the golf industry since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is now a freelance journalist writing mainly for Golf Monthly. He is an expert on the Rules of Golf having qualified through an R&A course to become a golf referee. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all of the Top 100 plus 91 of the Next 100, making him well-qualified when it comes to assessing and comparing our premier golf courses. He has now played 1,000 golf courses worldwide in 35 countries, from the humblest of nine-holers in the Scottish Highlands to the very grandest of international golf resorts. He reached the 1,000 mark on his 60th birthday in October 2023 on Vale do Lobo's Ocean course. Put him on a links course anywhere and he will be blissfully content.

Jezz can be contacted via Twitter - @JezzEllwoodGolf

Jeremy is currently playing...

Driver: Ping G425 LST 10.5˚ (draw setting), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 55 S shaft

3 wood: Srixon ZX, EvenFlow Riptide 6.0 S 50g shaft

Hybrid: Ping G425 17˚, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Orange 80 S shaft

Irons 3- to 8-iron: Ping i525, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Irons 9-iron and PW: Honma TWorld TW747Vx, Nippon NS Pro regular shaft

Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 50˚ and 54˚, 12˚ bounce, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Putter: Kramski HPP 325

Ball: Any premium ball I can find in a charity shop or similar (or out on the course!)

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