TaylorMade Golf Introduces R9 Fairway Woods
Engineered with TaylorMade's New Flight
Control Technology to Give Golfers the Power to Adjust the Clubhead
Characteristics Eight Ways
CARLSBAD, Calif. (January 19, 2009) - TaylorMade-adidas Golf has
introduced two new fairway wood models, the R9™ and R9™ TP, both with
TaylorMade's innovative new Flight Control Technology (FCT) that allows
the player to adjust the head characteristics - face angle, loft and lie
-- in one of eight ways.
FCT in both the R9 and R9 TP fairway woods promotes a side-to-side
trajectory change of up to 35 yards, helping players to dial in
straighter, longer shots. An added advantage of FCT is that it allows
players to dial in the look they prefer at address, with the face angle
either square, slightly closed or slightly open, promoting increased
confidence.
"Tour pros have their metalwoods tweaked often to change the clubhead's
performance and appearance at address," said Sean Toulon, TaylorMade's
executive vice president of innovation. "FCT allows every golfer to make
similar changes in seconds."
TaylorMade Flight Control Technology
How does FCT work? It starts with a small metallic sleeve positioned
over the tip of the shaft. The shaft is secured to the clubhead with a
specially made bolt in the bottom of the clubhead. The FCT bolt is
designed to be retained in the well to eliminate the chance of losing
it. The sleeve, made of high-strength 7075-T6 aluminum alloy, is ringed
around the bottom with small teeth, which tightly mesh with a second
ring of matching teeth within the hosel. You can change the clubhead's
characteristics (face angle, loft, lie) by loosening the FCT bolt,
removing the shaft from the head, rotating the sleeve and shaft into a
specified position, then locking them into that position within the head
with the FCT bolt.
The R9 fairway wood offers eight clubhead positions. Changing from one
position to another is easy and takes only a matter of seconds. It's
important to recognize that as the face angle closes, the loft
increases; and as the face angle opens, the loft decreases. Thus R9
fairway woods are engineered to promote trajectories that are 1)
increasingly higher, long-carrying and which move from right-to-left; 2)
increasingly lower, more controllable and which move from left-to-right;
or 3) neutral, relatively straight ball flight of a mid-level height.
TaylorMade's "New Classic" Clubhead Shape
The R9 fairway wood's clubhead features TaylorMade's "new classic"
shape, which beautifully combines traditional and contemporary lines to
create a clubhead that's particularly easy to aim and which sets up
cleanly and beautifully behind the ball at address. The CG location,
meanwhile, is more than 50 percent lower than the similarly sized r7
fairway woods. That's a dramatic difference that helps make R9 fairways
incredibly easy to launch. The new classic shape also delivers high MOI
for great stability on off-center hits, which also contributes to the R9
fairways' ease of use. On the underside of the head an advanced sole
design, more rounded and beveled than in previous TaylorMade metalwoods,
reduces the amount of sole area that comes into contact with the turf.
R9 Fairway Woods Gallery
R9 fairways are equipped with a 70-gram Fujikura Motore graphite shaft.
Loft options include: Tour 3-wood (stronger lofted at 13°), 3-wood
(15°), 4-wood (17°) and 5-wood (19°); X, S and R shafts; both right- and
left-handed. Availability begins on March 20, 2009 at a manufacturer's
suggested retail price (MSRP) of $275 per club.
R9 TP Fairway Woods
R9 fairway woods are also offered in a TP version (Tour Preferred),
which are equipped with a more advanced, tour-caliber 85-gram Fujikura
Motore F1. Loft options in include: Tour 3-wood (stronger lofted at
13°), 3-wood (15°), 4-wood (17°) and 5-wood (19°); X, S and R shafts;
both right- and left-handed. Availability begins on March 20, 2009 at an
MSRP of $360 per club.
