The new r7 XD irons from TaylorMade-adidas Golf are engineered to launch the ball high, long and straight with ease, and to deliver improved forgiveness on mis-hits, company officials said. The clubs also feature oversized club heads with improved forgiveness on mis-hits.
The r7 XD irons employ TaylorMade's exclusive Inverted Cone Technology (ICT), which was pioneered in the R500 Series drivers and is still employed in TaylorMade r7 and r5 driver models.
ICT incorporates an inverted cone milled directly into the rear side of the titanium club face. The precise geometry of the inverted cone changes the way the club face behaves at impact, and effectively increases the size of the r7 XD's COR zone to help deliver consistently long distance even on off-center hits.
ICT couldn't be incorporated into the r7 XD without Pull-Face technology, in which the titanium club face is created separately from the steel club head. The thinness of the club face -- just 2.2 millimeters across most of the face -- promotes high initial ball speed for increased carry and distance. And because both the back and front of the club face are milled, the face grooves can be precision-cut and the face itself can be milled perfectly flat.
The weight saved by using titanium in the face allows TMaG engineers to allocate the saved weight to strategic points within the club head to move the center of gravity lower and deeper, which makes it easier to launch the ball. And because the r7 XD irons are so easy to launch high, TaylorMade has strengthened the loft of each iron to lower the ball flight.
The r7 XD also employs a Tuned Performance Cartridge, a proven TaylorMade performance technology that has proven itself in the rac OS and LT irons. The cartridge, which is made mostly of polyurethane, is positioned in the lower rear side of the club head's perimeter and saves 26 grams of weight, which then is relocated into the perimeter of the club head to reduce twisting and provide improved forgiveness.
The r7 XD irons are available in S, R, M and L shaft flexes, with a suggested retail price of $1,032 with steel shafts and $1,200 with graphite shafts.
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